Tools for managing k8s

Let's look at the most popular and convenient applications (in the author's opinion)

kubectl

This is, without a doubt, the primary tool for interacting with a Kubernetes cluster. It lets you perform various operations, such as creating, deleting, scaling, and monitoring resources in the cluster. Kubectl also provides access to the various Kubernetes APIs. Kubectl's capabilities allow you to perform any manipulation via the command line, which makes it an indispensable tool for use in scripts.

k9s

k9s, like kubectl, is a console application, but a pseudo-graphical one. This provides convenience and speed when using the keyboard, which is difficult with graphical utilities like Lens (more on it below). You should definitely try k9s, because it's a very mature utility with a large number of features. It conveniently lets you get lists of all available resources, separating them by type and namespace. Worth noting too are the port-forward feature, as well as viewing container logs and shell access.

kube-ps1

kube-ps1 isn't a tool for directly managing a cluster, but it ended up on this list for a reason. It's a command-line prompt for bash and zsh. We highly recommend using it, since it helps avoid mistakes when working with multiple clusters by showing the name of the active context from kubeconfig and the namespace in the command-line prompt. It looks roughly like this (only in color):

1[sasha@thinkpad tmp (⎈ |devopstrain-devopstrain-1053028:default)]$

Lens

Lens is a very advanced graphical tool for working with k8s clusters, which you can conveniently switch between from your list. It can display resource consumption graphs.

Kubernetes dashboard

Kubernetes dashboard is a web interface for managing a Kubernetes cluster. It provides a graphical shell for performing various operations. It runs inside the cluster itself, and you only need a browser to access it.

This list ended up including only time-tested, reliable utilities. The first 4 are a must-install if you actively work with k8s clusters.